As I write this newsletter in mid-March, 2010, Georgian has much to be proud of, thanks to recent and pending developments, but also has had some sad news that we all feel, as members of the College community. It is on the latter note that I begin, with encouragement to readers to follow this story to the end.
Georgian remembers
In any organization of Georgian’s size, and especially with an aging population, there seems to be weekly losses of relatives and friends. Over the past several weeks, Georgian has lost staff (Ruth Yole), retirees (Judy Watson), family members (Charlene Van Maren’s in-laws, Elaine and Andrea Murray’s father, and Terry Heittola’s father), and community supporters (Don Lander, a former Director of our Georgian College Foundation Board).
While such losses are never easy, it is always amazing to see the Georgian community pull together to try to help those who have lost someone close to them. This sense of caring and helpfulness is what makes Georgian truly special. Our thoughts and best wishes are extended to the families affected by these recent deaths, as all the individuals lost were exceptional, each in their own unique way.
Strategic Plan renewal 2010
On a much happier note, Georgian’s new Strategic Plan is being presented to the Board of Governors for final approval March 25. Over the past several months staff, students and members of the Georgian community were invited to help map our future by participating in focus groups and an online survey. We received input from more than 1,000 stakeholders who identified what they would like Georgian to be known for in the future and what they felt needed to be addressed in this strategic plan. While several themes emerged, the stakeholders identified a number of areas in which they would like Georgian to continue to excel, including: relevant, innovative and high quality programming; high quality graduates with job-ready skills in demand by employers; providing a full range of pathways for students; excellent, progressive and innovative teaching and learning practices; as well as maintaining our strength in providing a caring environment (learning and work) with an emphasis on “the personal touch.”
The extensive feedback from internal and external stakeholders has been distilled into draft strategic priorities for the new plan: Student Access and Success; Extraordinary Teaching and Learning; Energizing and Supporting our People; Strengthening our Connections; and Building Capacity through Innovation. The Board of Governors reviewed the draft plan on March 9, and I anticipate the final plan will be approved and adopted by the Board at its monthly meeting on March 25. The essence of the new Strategic Plan will be communicated widely and in varied formats in the weeks following the Board’s decision.
Once approved, the new Strategic Plan will pave the way for a new supporting organizational structure. This new structure will be designed to support the Strategic Plan as per the old maxim “structure supports strategy.” Details of the new structure will be announced shortly after the Board meeting, but it will be designed to help address the challenges and opportunities that Georgian can expect to face over the next three to five years.
Ontario spring budget
At the same time the Board of Governors is considering the new Strategic Plan, the Province will be announcing its 2010-11 Budget. The recent Economic Statement by the Province emphasized projected growth this coming academic year of 20,000 college and university students, and a commitment to help grow international student enrolment across the province. We will be watching how enrolment growth this current academic year will be funded, details of how growth will be funded next year (which starts April 1, 2010), and how much our general purpose operating grant (the core of our annual funding) will be increased. The government may also outline a commitment to improved credit and credential recognition, which would be a huge gain for colleges, and their students and alumni.
I hope to have specific budget details to pass along in my next newsletter. At the same time, I will report on the preliminary results of our 2009-10 year-end budget, as well as the College’s financial outlook for 2010-11. In the meantime, I was delighted to hear earlier this month that Georgian received good news on 2010-11 funding for the School-College-Work Initiative. Michelle Rao, Manager of College School Partnerships, informed me that School- College-Work Initiatives through the Central Lakes Regional Planning Team has been approved for close to $1.3 million for the next fiscal year, representing a sizeable increase of nearly 27 per cent over last year. The funding will support the regional planning team, a dozen marketing/outreach activities, eight regional forums, and 36 sections of dual credits involving 795 secondary students. We have seen excellent growth in dual credits – up from 24 sections and 500 students this current year. For the first time, dual credits will also take place at all seven Georgian campuses.
Impressive enrolment growth
In terms of enrolment growth, our March 1 enrolment audit figures are once again impressive. Our domestic enrolment (which includes funded programs, Nursing, Second Career students, and Laurentian) was up 13.10 per cent to 8,246 students. Our international enrolment (which includes funded programs and Laurentian) was up 55.56 per cent to 392 students. While these numbers of students reflect a weak economy and an expedited student visa pilot project in India, the long-term outlook for Georgian is continued growth in enrolment. As of March 1, applications to Georgian for this fall were up 16 per cent over the same time last year, representing an increase of approximately 2,300 applications. College acceptances were up 9.2 per cent. College applications to Laurentian@Georgian have increased 12 per cent. Thank you to all staff who worked hard to accommodate and serve this growing body of learners, especially during these difficult economic times.
While virtually all staff (I always use this term to mean faculty, support staff and administrative staff) play a role within a growing student population, faculty in particular deserve to be recognized. Teaching and learning is what Georgian is all about, and students are our main focus. With this in mind, I want to acknowledge that a challenging round of collective bargaining very recently concluded with 51.45 per cent of faculty provincially voting to accept a new collective agreement. It is my hope that future rounds of bargaining will be smoother than this one, the first under new bargaining legislation. Despite bargaining uncertainties, Georgian faculty never ceased to concentrate on helping their students succeed, a truly professional approach that was recognized and appreciated by all.
Faculty excellence: TVO’s Best Lecturer competition
Another example of faculty excellence was illustrated last month when TVO announced that a Laurentian@Georgian faculty member has been chosen as one of the Top Ten finalists in the network’s “2010 Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition.” English Professor Bruce Meyer was selected from a group of more than 300 nominated lecturers. It is TVO’s biggest competition to date with a $10,000 scholarship from TD Insurance Meloche Monnex going to the school of the top lecturer. Laurentian@Georgian is part of an impressive list of institutions whose professors have made it to the final 10, including Queen’s University (two contenders), Ryerson University, University of Toronto (two contenders), University of Ontario Institute of Technology, University of Ottawa and York University (two contenders).
TVO’s shortlisted lecturers were judged on their ability to present ideas with confidence, authority, clarity, coherence, energy and enthusiasm. The independent panel reviewed video submissions from the top 20 lectures selected last December. Viewers across the province can watch the top 10 lectures on Big Ideas (which started March 6). Bruce’s lecture, entitled The Four Years of Yates, will air this Saturday, March 27, at 5 p.m. Viewers will be able to rate contestants following each lecture, and vote for an overall winner at the end of the contest. A panel of judges will also rate the lectures. The voting period closes April 11 and the winner will be announced April 17. I want to congratulate Bruce for his tremendous accomplishment in making it to the final 10, while wishing him the best of luck in the final voting. Bruce is a prolific author, but most importantly, from my perspective and that of his students, he is incredibly student-focused and loves teaching. Let’s all be sure to tune in and cast our votes for Bruce and for that $10,000 scholarship!
Official results of Program Quality Assurance Audit
As Georgian’s reputation grows academically, it continues to grow on other fronts as well, as evidenced by our Program Quality Assurance Process Audit last fall. The results by the independent review committee could not have been more laudatory for Georgian. Among the highlights, the audit team commended Georgian for “living the quality assurance and continuous improvement processes as these are clearly embedded in the culture and day to day activities.” Georgian’s rating of “mature” and “fully met” in all five criteria represents the highest evaluation possible. The College received six commendations. Among them were comments on: how we organized the audit and self-study; the senior management team’s commitment to quality; the Centre for Teaching and Learning as a “key vehicle” for supporting quality initiatives; our faculty performance review process; the Library Commons Learning Hubs and Write-On Centres; as well as our partnerships, internally and externally.
The audit team made two recommendations for action for Georgian College that will strengthen our program review process. We must report to the Quality Assurance Services on our progress concerning these recommendations by June 2011. Few colleges have received all “met” results and even fewer have been deemed “mature” in the case with our results. Copies of the final report are available in the offices of the President, Vice-President, Academic and in the Centre for Teaching and Learning. In my previous newsletter, I identified and thanked all the staff who played a pivotal role in the overall results of the audit review. Once again, I want to congratulate Janice Priest (Dean, Centre for Teaching and Learning), and the many staff members who assisted in the audit review process.
Employee engagement
As many staff are aware, last October Georgian completed its Employee Engagement Survey (the fourth such survey in the past 10 years), and the final report’s highlights are now available on the College’s T-drive under College Accountability. The overall employee engagement score at Georgian College was 3.79. This compares to an engagement score of 3.64 at Georgian about 10 years ago. The scores surpassed those of four other academic institutions in our database that ranged from a low of 3.46 to a high of 3.63. A total of 36 per cent of employees at Georgian are either “actively engaged” or “engaged.” While there is certainly room for improvement, these are very good results when compared to the Canadian average that shows 17 per cent for engaged employees. In addition, Georgian’s score compares favourably to the 40 multi-sector organizations in the database (50,000-plus employees), with Georgian’s employee engagement score sitting in the top 20 per cent.
The Employee Engagement Action Team (EEAT), led by Cheryl Simpson, oversees the administration of these surveys and the action plans based on an analysis of the survey results and recommendations. The EEAT has representation from Local 349, Local 350, Georgian’s local OCASA, College Council, Human Resources and Organizational Development. The Vice Presidents will be responsible for working with their deans, directors and managers to review the recommendations and determine priorities for action. Some of these priorities will be at the senior level, such as corporate policies and procedures, while others will be at the departmental level, such as employee participation in departmental decisions.
Georgian Centre for Health and Wellness
Construction on the new Georgian Centre for Health and Wellness at the Barrie Campus has become much more visible in the past few weeks, with the steel rising steadily. Physical Resources reports the project is progressing well. The footings/foundations and the steel frame represent the first phase of the project. The installation of a new electrical transformer is complete, as are the majority of the storm and sanitary sewers. Power, gas and additional storm and sanitary sewer services are currently being put in place. The current phase is to be completed by mid-April. A phase two tender has recently gone out, covering the building envelope and interiors, as well as the completion of landscaping, roads and other outside elements. The 172,000-square-foot building will facilitate a collaborative, interprofessional, team-based approach to health sciences education, and will include state-of-the-art laboratories and technology-enhanced classrooms. Teaching health clinics will provide student work experience while offering needed health care services for students and the general public.
Success! Georgian and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games
I would like to conclude this newsletter by saying how thrilled and proud I was to see the role that people with connections to Georgian played in the overall success of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and the Paralympic Games. We have been carrying regular features on the front page of our website celebrating our varied connections to the Olympics. Certainly a highlight for all of us was the gold medal win in men’s Skeleton by Canadian Automotive Institute graduate (2000) Jon Montgomery. Not only was Jon the toast of Whistler after his win, his popularity and affability even landed him on the Oprah Winfrey show! Other Georgian alumni also played a part in Canada’s Olympic story. Steve Haskell graduated from the CNC Technician and Mould Maker Technician programs in 2002. He had a major hand in developing the mould for the Olympic torch used in the relay. Greg Davey, a 2008 Board of Governors’ Distinguished Alumni Award-winner and Electronic Engineering Technology graduate, provided video telecommunications connectivity to television broadcasters around the globe during the Games. As Associate Director, Olympic Services for Bell Canada, Greg also acted as general manager of the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, which served as the international broadcast centre.
Some of our current students and staff also experienced once-in-a-lifetime Olympic moments. Two Georgian students, Adam Dixon and Brad Bowden, were members of the Canadian Sledge Hockey Team as part of the just-completed Paralympics Games. Second-year Advertising student Erinn Baptiste was one of the dancers in the spectacular Olympic opening ceremonies. She also took part in the Olympic Torch Relay in December, as did two other Georgian students, Summer Bly and Shane Martin. And Heather Dix of the University Partnership Centre (UPC), volunteered at the Olympics in press operations.
Welcome to the new President’s Report
As you will have noted by now, this edition of the President’s Report marks the change to a new format and a new location on the Office of the President website. This change is part of an overall strategy designed to increase and enhance the level of communications from my office and provide ease of access by staff and students. One of the strengths of this new format is the way in which it allows for greater interaction. I hope staff will take advantage of the features on the President’s website to provide comments and input on, not only this newsletter, but also any other items or topics that are of interest or concern to you.
I would love to hear your feedback on this new format. Please take a moment to e-mail me with suggestions using the “contact” page of this website.
